Apple Pickin' Time

Once again, I'm making up for some lost time on here.  But instead of going back and trying to catch up on all of our summer activities I'm posting more up-to-date happenings.  Who knows if those summer happenings will ever make it on here!

Every fall we take a trip to an apple orchard.  We usually make the trip to Cambridge, but between football games on both Saturday and Sunday this year, I'm not sure if we'll be able to make it happen.  So, we stayed a little closer to home this weekend and found a little orchard about 35 minutes away.  The apple picker poles were nowhere to be found, so Ron hoisted the boys up on his shoulders to pick the juicy apples.  Of course, the boys were more than happy to do this, especially knowing those apples would eventually turn into their favorite homemade applesauce soon!

Needless to say, two batches of applesauce and one pan of apple crisp later.  We still have a TON of apples left.  I wonder how much applesauce will make it to the freezer (and escape the mouths of three hungry boys)?

IBL Tourney

Mason finished up his IBL season yesterday with a scorching hot (literally) tourney. Of course, the big games would have to take place on a day when it's a good 100 degrees with humidity! The North Stars had a great season with a final record of 28-2, winners of the Valley Conference, and 2nd place in the tournament. We couldn't be prouder of the boys and their well played season, sportsmanship, and hard work! Go Green!!

Running Aimlessly

The title pretty much says it all! Watching 4 year olds play soccer is really just watching 4 year olds running aimlessly around a field with some cones and nets and chasing a ball.

Owen finally got his turn to participate in a sport. I really thought he would be all gung ho and pumped up about being in a sport, but I don't think he was so sure about the whole organized sport thing. He was pretty chummy with his coaches and asked on the first day if he could snap in soccer. Which by the way, is OK! There were only six sessions and I think he would have been much happier had it been a little warmer and rain free. While some kids love to tromp around in the rain, Owen is definitely NOT one of them. Let's just say there was a little melt down during practice that evening.

He sure did like the sunny days though!

Just checkin' to make sure his shin guards are OK. He really wanted to tuck his pants in them just so he could see them!

Do you get the idea the kid beside Owen thinks he's crazy?

Now that soccer is over and done with, he will proudly tell people he plays soccer, as if he's been playing the sport for years. We'll just have to see what he says when t-ball starts in a couple of weeks!

Bowling Mania!

Celebrating two April birthdays can get a little tricky when you throw Easter in there so we decided to celebrate the boys' birthdays with family by bowling. I honestly think this might become a yearly tradition - it was a blast. Poky has the nicest bowling alley and since both families are fairly close in proximity, we had a great crowd. I'll let the pictures do the talking!

He Hit Double Digits

Since I'm still behind on blogging, way back on April 29th, Mason hit double digits! As he gets older his birthday celebrations seem to get a little smaller. This year he decided to take a couple of friends to Planet X in Cedar Rapids. Mason, Luke, Quinn, and Connor had a blast. Who wouldn't enjoy bumper cars, laser tag, and more?

Mason is such a good kid and he's had a great year. He took on the job of watching his brother before and after school and proved to be very responsible and even had an extra friend here every once in awhile. Homework was even done before we arrived home from work too...usually!!!! I think we're off to a good start! Mason continues to focus lots of his energy on sports and he loves every minute of it....football, basketball, baseball, track, you name it! We are very proud of him and hope this year is as great as the last.

Spring Football

Connor played a little spring football this year through the local YMCA. The program is much more relaxed than through the rec department. With only a handful of eager players signed up they switched the teams around each time and just played each other. Since the older kids had even fewer players, our 1st and 2nd grade group played them a few times as well. Overall, Connor had a good time even though the weather didn't always cooperate. Those spring activities tend to be a little cold!

This game was played on April 23rd. Check out the stocking caps, sweatshirts, pants, and just plain ol' gloomy weather!

Then just a short month later on May 18th, we had beautiful weather. Hence the sunshine, shorts, and short sleeves!

Owen is the Big 4!

As usual, our spring has been super busy and unfortunately, blogging got put on the back burner! However, we've been busy for a lot of reasons and we can't forget to share them.

Way back on April 2nd, Mr. Owen turned 4. Hard to believe this little man is four already, and I must admit on the verge of acting like a little teenager!!!! He has had lots of important "firsts" in the past year. Starting preschool was a big accomplishment and he did such a great job. According to his teacher he is mighty fine at coloring & cutting and very social! Finally being able to participate in a sport (more on that in another post), instead of watching his big brothers was a big step too. For the first time, he made it to all of the UNI football games (he's finally able to sit through an entire game now)! Owen has really come out of his shell this past year too and will talk to just about anybody and has great conversational skills (in other words he never shuts up)! He also thinks he can speak in Spanish, however he always uses the same phrase and it translates into whatever he wants it to mean.

We enjoyed a birthday supper at our favorite Mexican restaurant...to sharpen those Spanish speaking skills. It's a tradition to put a large sombrero on the birthday guest and sing Happy Birthday in Spanish. Thankfully, Owen liked it this time, even if it was a little too big! We'd gone there for Connor's birthday previously and Owen burst into tears when the big "hats" arrived!

Owen also had a little friend party at our house with Sydney and Hailey. He was so excited to have friends over:) BOTH camera batteries were dead that night, so no pictures to share!

I'm sure the next year will go just as fast and I can't wait to see how he grows and changes!